Media Share 9/MEDIASHARE_09.ISO/bbsdoor/ironox10.zip/OXDOC.DOC

Text File | 1994-02-08 | 13KB | 249 lines

                        IRON OX, Version 1.00

                   (C)opyright 1994, Joel W. Downer


                            THE SCENARIO

In the 23rd century, all of Earth's frontiers have been exhausted (even
the oceans have been drained, pursuant to the Deforestation and
Environmental Degradation Act of 2214).  With the mountains strip-mined
to dust and the entire planet bare of luxite, the vital mineral needed
for supralight travel, corporations have had to turn to other worlds
to find virgin nature to plunder.

They're accomplishing this rapine at a record pace by enlisting the
enthusiasm of independent landowners.  The corporations transport land-
hungry colonists to new worlds, parcel out territory to them as rapidly
as the colonists can develop it, and then purchase the colony's products
at embarrassingly low prices.  (This game is virtually free of violence,
but it's not short on exploitation....)

You are one of these colonists, looking for a world with clean air, tall
mountains, and an open horizon so that you can bless it with smog, mines,
and solar panels.  With the help of iron oxen -- multipurpose, automated
robotic harvesters -- you're going to find a way to make nature work for
your profit.

                              THE GAME

Iron Ox is an interactive strategy BBS doorgame for three to eight players.
The Iron Ox door supports literally hundreds of games going on at one time,
so you may be involved in several different games at once.  (The maximum
number of games you can play at one time is set by your sysop, and is
limited to three in the unregistered version.)  Iron Ox is a game of
strategy, intense competition, and just a little bit of goofy humor.
It will test skills you didn't know you had -- from your ability to manage
a large estate of mines and farmland to your ability to write bad poetry.

Game play is based on turns (usually one per day), which equate to
"months" for your character.  The game advances to a new month (and you
can take another turn) when everyone in the game has had a chance to
play or a day has passed since the last turn ended.  (In other words, if
a game has four players and you're the fourth one to play, you can go
right back in and take your turn for the next month as soon as you're
done.)  Games last 14 turns, which will usually mean two weeks.

When you join or start games from the main menu, you will choose an alias
by which people will know you in that game (if you like, you can use your
real name).  You also choose what species you want to be -- you can be
human, or any of several non-human races.  In general, all of the different
races have an equal chance to compete, but the more exotic species have
special characteristics you must learn to exploit.  Luckily, you can choose
different aliases and species in different games, so you'll have plenty of
opportunities to experiment.

In addition to choosing your alias and race, you will also vote on when
each game you join should start.  You will have to wait until the minimum
number of players have joined, and a majority of players vote to start,
before you can (P)lay the game.  The game will begin when eight players
have joined the game regardless of their votes.

The world you are conquering is divided into a 5 x 12 map, labelled with
letters and numbers (1-5 and A-L).  These squares can produce any of
four materials:

The Product       Is Produced Best By              Value
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Food              River Land              Keeps Your Character Alive
Energy            Open Plain              Keeps Your Oxen Running
Mineral Ore       Mountainous Land        Needed by Store to Make Oxen
Luxite            ???????????             Worth a Lot of Money! <g>

Luxite is the most valuable material you can produce, but it can be
tricky to find -- it may be anywhere, and mining for it at random is a
waste of time.  The Prospector's Office can tell you how much luxite
may be found in individual map squares, but only for a price.

You will be able to claim one square of land per turn.  (Opportunities
to buy extra land may come up from time to time.)  Before your land
will make anything for you, you will have to purchase an iron ox at
Oxware, Etc., and program the ox to produce the materials you want.
You start the game with six units of food and six units of energy, and
you can buy and sell products at the General Store.  However, you will
want to make sure that you assign some squares to produce food or energy,
because other players and various disasters can wipe out the inventory
at the store, leaving you in peril of starvation!

The self-employed work very long days, and you're no exception:  depending
on your race, you will have between 10 and 22 hours a day to work (less if
you're short on food).

Game Activity                   Hours Deducted
----------------------------------------------
Claiming Land                   2 hours
Buying a New Ox                 1 hour
Changing an Ox's Job            1 hour
Prospecting for Luxite          1 hour (or more)
Visiting the General Store      1 hour
Going to the Bank               2 hours
Visiting the Saloon             none (that's rest and relaxation!)
Entering/Bidding on Auctions    none (perhaps you use a cellular phone...)
Trading with Other Players      none (cellular phone again...)
Dirty Tricks on Other Players   variable

If you have game time left over at the end of your turn, you can do odd
jobs to make extra money.

The game offers a variety of options you'll learn best by exploring.
The Planetary News Office will allow you to review the history of the
game and post announcements for other players to read.  The Saloon will
allow you to shoot the bull with other players, buy drinks, and enter
and vote on the Planetary Cultural Competition, not to mention waste
your free hours and coins in the infamous Rat Race.  Dirty Tricks give
you a way to make life difficult for other players ... if you can get
away with it!

                        HOW TO WIN THE GAME

Your score in this game is based on the estimated value of your property
in credits.  Land is the most valuable kind of property -- worth
thousands of credits -- but food, ore, energy, luxite, and money are
counted, too.  Remember that the score values of different products are
based on the prices at the beginning of the game, not the fluctuating
colony-side economy:  sometimes selling your products can help your
score, and sometimes it's best to hold onto them.

Each game has winners and losers.  The door also keeps track of overall
score -- your total points for all the games you've played.  The overall
score (which you can view with (L)ist Scores from the Main Menu) resets
monthly.  If you're playing the registered version of Iron Ox and your
sysop has enabled time prizes, you may be able to win extra on-line time
through skillful play.

The door keeps track of all-time records:  highest individual score and
highest margin of victory.  It also keeps records for the games with the
highest *overall* score for the colony (the property of all the players
added together).  Would you rather run up a high score at the expense of
other players, or work for the overall good of the colony?  It's up to
you.

                             THE RACES

Inside the game, you'll find a catalog of all the races you're allowed
to play, along with ANSI pictures and descriptions.  Here, though, is a
little general advice about each race:

Humans:  The baseline for comparison -- average at everything.

Rockpicker:  Good miner and very good at dirty tricks, but not the best
   choice for beginners.  Vulnerable to starvation, and greatly
   mistrusted by everyone.

Slouch:  Not much good at anything, but very lucky.

Caper:  Very talented -- good at almost everything! -- but works short
   hours and takes frequent vacations.

Photovore:  Very powerful character, but tricky to use to its fullest
   advantage.  Doesn't mine well, but excellent at making food and
   energy.  Lots of hours per day to play with, and invulnerable to
   starvation.  A beginner might not be able to use the Photovore to its
   full potential, but the generous number of hours can be a good way
   to learn!

Shovelfist:  Great miner, but unlucky and not especially clever.
   Vulnerable to starvation.

Rubblemuncher:  Invulnerable to starvation (like the Photovore) and
   *great* at making ore.  However, this character doesn't get many
   hours per day, and may have trouble making enough energy to meet
   its needs.

Handler:  Not much good at making things, but decent at dirty tricks and
   *very* good at bartering.  Mostly a character for advanced players
   and team play.

Metamorph:  Very attractive character because of its ability to change
   shapes!  The best way to use a Metamorph is to change shape into
   something the colony is likely to be short on (e.g., to change into a
   Rubblemuncher when no one in the colony is good at making ore).  Note
   that changing shape will disable your character for a full turn, so
   it's not a decision you should make lightly.

The best choices for beginning players are the Human, Slouch, Caper, and
Photovore.

                              STRATEGY

Iron Ox is a very simple game to play, but the strategy may take you
months to master.  Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. Claim your one plot of land every turn.  It doesn't cost anything,
   it's always worth something, and it's good for your score.

2. Make sure you keep your character well-fed!  Unless you're one of
   the species that doesn't require food (Photovore and Rubblemuncher),
   going several months on short rations could cause your character to
   starve to death, eliminating you from the game!

3. Don't wait until you're hungry or running out of energy to start
   making food and energy.  If you assign an ox to make food this turn,
   you won't be able to eat the food until *TURN AFTER NEXT*.  In order
   to survive, you have to think ahead.

4. Be conservative about Dirty Tricks:  stealing is fun, but losing
   plots of land (the penalty for being caught) isn't.  Many factors
   determine your rate of success at stealing, including the size and
   value of what you're stealing, your race, the month of the game, and
   what kind of character you're stealing *from*.  Until you know the
   rules, be careful!

5. Take advantage of the information the game gives you.  Read the
   Newspaper carefully each month, and check the Game (I)nfo Screen and
   (Y)our Holdings screen from the (H)elp Menu at least once per turn.

7. Take the Colony Cultural Competition seriously!  The topics -- bad puns,
   disgusting recipes, etc. -- may seem frivolous, but the prize for the
   winner -- a free plot of land! -- is worth the trouble.  Make an
   entry even if you can't think of something good, and be sure to vote.
   The Committee has been known to favor people who are good citizens.

8. If you have friends who are playing the game, don't ignore the
   possibility of alliances or team play.  Trade deals are a very
   powerful tool, and several of the races were designed to work best
   as parts of two- and three-player alliances.

Luxite is very often the highest-priced commodity in the game.  However,
trying to produce large amounts of luxite early in the game is very
dangerous, because doing so will force you to rely on the store for food
and energy.  Buying up everything from the store can hurt opponents who
are relying on store inventory, and will also cause prices to rise (store
prices are based on supply and demand), but do not expect to make money
just by buying and selling!  Any time you stockpile large amounts of a
product, you are taking a risk, because occasional events (a rat
infestation, an earthquake, or a pirate raid, for example) can destroy
your stockpile.

The game does not have to be competitive -- players can accomplish the
highest scores by working *together*, using trades to share product and
put land in the hands of the characters who can use it best -- but it
can very often be cutthroat.  Whether your game is friendly or ruthless,
the key to success is understanding what the other players are trying to
do.  If all players make one product, the price will be driven very low
by the excess supply and everyone will suffer.  If other players are
relying on the store for food or energy, you should be very careful
about doing the same thing:  the store's inventory is not
inexhaustible.

Good luck!